Darren “Sparks” Massenburg was enrolled in a vocational program attempting to create a future for himself and his two children in 2017, when he was fatally shot.
Searching for ways to honor her close family friend and others like him, Beer Kulture CEO Latiesha Cook tried to find programs that would help Black men further their careers. There were very few to be found.
“As a Black woman, there’s a number of programs and things that will help us get on our feet or start businesses or take on leadership roles, but it isn’t the same for Black men,” she told Brewbound. “And a large part of that is because Black men are expected to pull themselves up by their bootstraps and figure it out.”
In an effort to help fill the need, Beer Kulture, a nonprofit organization co-founded by Cook and her husband Dominic, launched the Sparks Foundation — a grant program to help Black men and boys pursue entrepreneurial endeavors and career development.
The organization will award four $5,000 grants a year, with the first grant being given this August. During quarterly application periods (February, May, August and November), potential recipients can submit their vision for their future (regardless if that is in the beverage industry or not), along with the steps they will take to achieve it, and how the grant would be used to make their vision a reality.
The goal of the grant program is to break down some of the barriers Black men face when trying to start their careers, whether that’s lack of funding for education, lack of trust from banks when seeking business loans, or a lack of resources to network — all issues that stem from systematic racism and a misplaced perception of Black men.
“We have to break down a lot of the stereotypes of how we look at Black men,” Cook said. “They’re soft creatures, they’re protectors, they’re funny, they smile, they’re loving. And a lot of people don’t look at them that way. So when they go out into the world and into society and they’re trying to get jobs, or they’re trying to start businesses, we’re looking at them from the lens of violence, from the lens of someone who isn’t loveable.”
To help fund the grants, the foundation aims to collaborate with companies with a passion for making a difference, with a strict screening and interview process to ensure they’re not just offering platitudes; something that Cook said is unfortunately rare.
“There’s a lot of people who are on the lip-service train,” she said. “They’ll tell you ‘Yep, I want to do this. I want to change.’ And then you hit them with all the things that you have to do in order to do that, then it’s like, ‘I don’t know, it sounds a little bit too much. I wasn’t willing to put in that much energy,’ and then they don’t do it. They continue to post their black squares online and make these large statements. They’ll make a one time donation to an organization somewhere to say that they did it. And then it’s one and done.”
One brewery that is putting in the work is Primitive Beer, founded by Brandon and Lisa Boldt in Longmont, Colorado.
Primitive is a passion project for the Boldts, who exclusively brew spontaneously fermented ales, inspired by the couple’s travels in Belgium. Proceeds from the company’s Peach on the Beach, a 1.5 liter bag-in-box fermented ale, were initially used to fund the Sparks Foundation.
“[Primitive] is an opportunity for us to make what we want it to be. It’s our project,” Lisa Boldt told Brewbound. “So why not use it as a platform to help other people achieve their goals too?”
Cook called Primitive “one of our favorite partners” and the Boldts “genuine, authentic partners who give a damn about the community [and] Black men specifically.”
“When I talked to them about the vision for the Sparks Foundation, Brandon and Lisa were up with me at three and four o’clock in the morning texting in excitement about the Sparks Foundation and how we can impact the lives of Black men,” Cook said.
Last month, Primitive launched its second collaboration with Beer Kulture: A Toast to Legends. The 5.3% ABV bottle-conditioned beer is a two- and three-year blend aged in Chateau Montelena Chardonnay barrels. The base uses the same Colorado peaches as those in Peach on the Beach, but with peach pits (or Noyaux) added to add an almond flavor.
The beer is being sold through Primitive’s taproom, as well as direct-to-consumers in around 24 states, according to Boldt. All proceeds will go towards Sparks Foundation grants.
As is the case with Primitive’s style of beer, new brews take years to create. Brandon Boldt likened the process to the work that needs to be done in the journey of diversity, equity, and inclusion: it takes time, patience and dedication to make meaningful change.
“That’s what we’re very excited about in terms of being a partner with Beer Kulture,” he said. “It’s not just one collab or an annual collab, this is what we’re hoping is a partnership that is indefinitely into the future.”
It’s a sentiment that Cook shares and encourages anyone hoping to make change to understand.
“A way that I like to express it is riding a bike for the first time: you fall, you hurt your legs, you get cuts and bruises, and you don’t want to continue to do that to yourself. But at the end of the day, if I’m going to learn how to ride this bike, I’m trying it over and over again,” she said. “It’s the same thing when you’re tackling systematic racism within your spaces. You have to continuously everyday work towards progression, and it doesn’t feel good. Sometimes you have to look in the mirror and challenge yourself and your own thoughts. And that’s hard.
“But at the end of the day, if we want to progress, and we want real change, we have to do the hard work that’s necessary.”